It’s that time of year. A time to reflect and rewind the year gone by. And, if you are like us an ad geek, it’s also a good time to replay advertising that made us stop and watch. They are the unskippables that scored top marks in our weekly review column Mast & Meh. As we wrap 2022, we thought of making a playlist of ‘Mast Watch of 2022’. This was a year when brands played smart by adding the right amount of humour to their ad scripts, took on uncomfortable topics, marketed unusual products, pushed the envelope of creativity, tech and innovation, and surprised consumers more than ever before. So sit back, get some popcorn and replay some of the ads we thought deserve a year-end rewatch, presented here in no particular order.
Brand – Swiggy | Why Is This A Swiggy Ad?
Agency – Talented
This inception-esque campaign was a celebration of creativity. Netizens were left scratching their heads when the brand plastered a creative puzzle on billboards, on social media feeds, and in print. It was a creative piece that almost transported users into a different yet familiar outer-space world with references to crypto and images of Swiggy’s beloved character, the Gulab Jamun Uncle. The user-generated campaign was a brave attempt by a brand that does not shy away from being bold. Work like this makes us believe that advertising is truly a part of pop culture and there is so much out there that’s waiting to be explored.
Brand – Tanishq | Marriage Conversations 2.0 | Our Goals
Agency – Talented
This commercial put a spotlight on a brand that always pushes the creative envelope. Over the years, Tanishq has sparked a lot of unconformable conversations. In this particular ad, the brand subtly conveyed how important it is to discuss financial goals before tying the knot. The ad was unfiltered and hit the right notes. It’s a reminder for brands out there that purpose in marketing can also mean just nudging societal narratives in more progressive directions. You don’t have to always create unbelievable social-led initiatives and plot to be purposeful.
Tata Tea – Jaago Re to fight Climate Change
Agency – Mullen Lintas
The Jaago Re ad series by Tata Tea has shed light on critical issues such as corruption, gender equality and voting but this time it focused on climate change. The brand highlighted one of the most defining crises of our times without making it preachy and boring. The campaign released for World Environment Day (June 5th) managed to deliver a powerful message on climate change in a simple yet effective way. The ad features actor Pankaj Tripathi who is visibly irritated after his son increases the AC temperature and advises him to be conscious about how the smallest actions have a large impact on the environment. He urges him to “take action, to act now, do our bit everyday …lest it becomes too late to protect the future of our children.” The spot ends with a powerful and relatable tagline “Garam sirf chai acchi lagti hai, planet nai.”
Brand – Jar | #BachaoJarAppPe
Agency – Spring Marketing Capital
If three is a hat-trick, what’s four? Jar’s brilliant round of four Bollywood inspired ads, certainly brought a truck load suave and swag to this action-packed year. From the legendary Nana Patekar reprising his commanding and iconic role as Uday Shetty from Welcome to Divyendu Sharma replaying the unapologetic Munna Bhaiya from Mirzapur to Prakash Raj being our favourite Jaykant Shikhre from Singham to Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the brilliant Ganesh Gaitonde from Sacred Games. All of these ads were in a way nostalgic as we got to see our favourite characters once again but in an anti-hero persona. Every element in these ads contributed equally in bringing out the surprising ‘good samaritan’ in each of these rather notorious characters. Great visuals, outstanding choice of background music and a very well thought out script is what awards this set of ads a Super MAST in our books.
Brand – Shaadi.com
Agency – Leo Burnett
2022 has been the year where multiple founders of companies made an appearance in their brand campaigns. It is also the year where the craze for business reality show Shark Tank India took over the country. Hence, it is no surprise that one of the panel judges featured in one of the most interesting campaigns of 2022. The founder of Shaadi.com & People Group Anupam Mittal featured in an ad campaign ‘Anupam Ki Shaadi’ that traced his entrepreneurial journey. The ad shows a 20-something Mittal building an online matrimonial platform when the internet hadn’t yet deeply penetrated the country but his faith and conviction in the product and idea pushed him to take a chance on what is now a very successful business. A tightly written screenplay and Mittal’s convincing portrayal makes this campaign one of the best creative pieces of 2022.
Brand – Dezerv
Conceptualised by: Dezerv and Light@27
We have come across characters like DN Sharma in our daily lives where hard work is humungous, but the fruits of labour are not commensurate. But, here is the difference! In Dezerv’s ad, Sharma seems visibly pleased over the returns on his investment whereby he could continue to rely on himself rather than consult an expert. This ad takes the route of humour which urges the viewers to measure the pros and cons of any decisions taken in the realm of finance. Also, this commercial is a positive shift from all the other advertisements, especially made on crypto where the side effects on investment in this particular category are far from being touched upon.
Brand – Vivo
Conceptualized by – FCB India
Let’s be honest. Today, phones have replaced proper communication that we would normally have with our families, friends and others. Vivo’s latest #SwitchOff ad aptly emphasizes on this topic. Onscreen couple Varun Mitra and Patralekha Paul have been married for five years. A dent in their communication is witnessed when Mitra checks his email inbox as soon as he wakes up. He fails to realize that Paul is not keeping well. What makes this ad heartwarming is the realistic portrayal by the protagonists on an important subject without adding unnecessary drama to each scene. A ‘Mast watch’ commercial which definitely gets you pondering over how strong your communication skills are today followed by the awareness and empathy that you hold for your surroundings .
Brand – HDFC Bank
Agency – Kinnect
HDFC Bank’s Vigil Aunty series of ads created a lot of chatter this year. The ads were conceptualized as a means to generate awareness about fraud and promote safe banking. The ads featuring Anuradha Menon as the protagonist were fun to watch and delivered an important message in a unique and comical manner. One of the ads in this series involved an unconventional job interview between Vigil Aunty, who was applying for the post of ‘Most Vigil Person’, and the actual marketing team of HDFC. Yet another ad involved the employees of a company. It was certainly interesting and fun to watch. While the interview was unconventional, it did have some sense of seriousness and conveyed the message cleverly and clearly. It’s not just junior and mid-level employees who participated in advertisements. The head honchos of companies too didn’t shy away and played along with the script.
Brand – HUL | Bin Boy
Agency – Ogilvy India
We think this is one of the most interesting public service ads of 2022. It’s a simple film to drive behavioral change among citizens on an issue that’s not often taken seriously. It urged people to segregate waste at homes and residential societies. Keeping a kid as the central character, HUL and their agency partner Ogilvy India, made the script light yet powerful. A purpose-led piece done superbly well.
Brand – Jaquar
Agency – Enormous
These ads from Jaquar not only tickled our funny bone but also added brightness to a category that’s often considered to be dry and boring. Using human imagination as the central theme, these ads were perfectly done to announce the brand’s foray into a new segment. These were Super Mast in our opinion.
Brand – 5 Star
Agency – Ogilvy India
One of the smartest advertising campaigns to have come out in 2022. The brand lived up to its tagline and did nothing for the campaign. It just simplified its logo into a graphic of five stars. That’s it. While other consumer companies went all out advertising in-apps during the festive season, 5 Star’s design strategy reminded users about the brand every time an app asked them for a rating on a scale of 5 stars. In fact, it will be a constant reminder forever. Sometimes brands really don’t need to do much to grab consumers’ attention. Simple and impactful.
Brand – Astral Pipes
Agency – The Womb
Ranveer Singh has endorsed everything from chips to condoms. This year he also promoted pipes, in Sindhi. In this spot, a very toned down Singh was taken to a home tour by an over-the-top Sindhi who seems to have been inspired by the Palace of Versailles for home décor. And, may we add, self-décor. But all that glitters is not gold. The cheap pipes of the house instantly turned the home into a crumbling, leaky mess. At this point Singh stepped in with a line about stinginess. Despite the use of a stereotype as a comical device, the use of Sindhi instead of Hindi made us curious enough to award this ad a spot on our year-end list.
Brand – Hyatt India
Agency – Animal
Hyatt India launched an aesthetic film that showed viewers stills and scenes of people who make weddings picture-perfect IRL. It was an ode to all the staff at hotels, the unsung heroes of fairy-tale weddings, who make sure everything is in place for the wedding party. It was a refreshing communication piece from the hospitality category. This one is a 2022 Mast watch.
Brand – Instagram
Agency – DDB Mudra
There couldn’t have been a better set of reel-sized ads to promote Instagram Reels. Advocating that anyone can make a Reel out of anything in life is as real and true as it can get. The next time you are running out of ideas to make a Reel, watch these ads.
Brand – Britannia Nutri Choice
Agency – Talented
In this ad we see all the ingredients used in the ‘cookie’ personified as actual human beings carrying out their roles. Chia, one of the ingredients nit-picks and criticizes, asking why so many ingredients are required in the cookie. This is when the wise ‘Ashwagandha’ explains how every ingredient is essential in boosting the immunity of the consumer. It was refreshing ad recipe for a cluttered and often dull ad category.
Brand – Britannia 50-50
Agency – Lowe Lintas
This one was a swift and effortless knock out of the park. Britannia’s ad showcased the duality and seamless blend of Indian ‘maska’ and foreign herbs in their 50-50 biscuit with a dramatic script. The film showed the typical sophisticated praise of a foreigner versus the over the top celebration of an Indian. We enjoyed these metaphorical ads. It was clever move to use Ravi Shastri too as everyone knows that what he played, is what he actually is.
Brand – CRED
Writers – Tanmay Bhat, Devaiah Bopanna, Puneet Chadha, Nupur Pai and Vishal Dayama
CRED ads have created a genre for itself. You know it’s a CRED ad even if you watch them from far away. Maybe from mars too. Some may think its formulaic but in a good way. There is a big splash of nostalgia, humour, and the right filters. However, not all of them have done the same magic this year. But that’s a story for another time. Here are three spots from the brand that we thought were a MAST watch. There were fun, witty and on point.
Brand – Porter
Agency – 22feet Worldwide
There’s a fine line of distinction between what qualifies as a music video and what qualifies as an advertisement. Porter has managed to seamlessly marry the two to create one spectacular musical ad. A catchy tune, great lyrics and brilliant visuals aren’t even close to what makes this such a clever advertisement. Typically, in such cases, the essence of the ad tends to get lost amongst all the hype and hoopla. However, that’s not the case with this ad. The takeaway from the ad is the fact that Porter has a vast range of delivery services and has the capability to provide them efficiently. Be it something as small as a teddy bear or a large consignment of antiques, as long as it’s a delivery that needs to be made, Porter will handle it for you. The ad manages to hold your attention throughout and trust us when we say this is one ad you will choose not to skip. Porter really managed to knock it out of the park with its first ad campaign.
Brand – Google
Agency – Talented
‘Aloo confused’ after watching this ad? We surely were. Is it an ad for a packet of potato chips? Moreover, why is Google promoting potato chips? It’s not. In the most innovative way, Google used a packet of potato chips to promote its new G2 smartphone chip. The packet of chips did some pretty un-chips like things. The music complemented the film well. A superbly executed advertisement. Hats off to the makers for giving us something to munch on.
Brand – what3words
Agency – Famous Innovations
The right location. Smart direction. Smarter script. Great casting and craft. That’s what makes the location-based technology app what3words’ debut commercial for India worth a re-watch. Shot in the vibrant city of Kolkata, it features the city’s trams, autos, old bookstores, Victorian buildings, and narrow lanes, all for a good reason. Giving directions to anyone in India is a complex task, given the general lack of signs and good city planning, and its complicated and duplicate street names. The new darling of the ad world, Vijay Raaz, an actor known for his craft, nails the part of a customer giving directions to a delivery person.
Brand – Dulux
Agency – Mullen Lintas
Despite being a functional category, some paint brands have had a good record of creating some memorable work, with ads and content. Dulux is attempting to do the same. This latest campaign is a sweet love story that seems straight out of old Bollywood. Its innocent sprinkled with some humour. Watch the well-written and wholesome films. It gets a Mast watch from us.
Brand – Fevicol
Agency – Schbang
As Indian kids, one of our fondest memories is that of peeling our mother’s or grandmother’s bindi off a mirror. Fevicol’s advertisement is short, relatble and full of nostalgia. It says everything with one simple action and scene. We can see a close shot of a kid’s hand trying to peel off a bindi stuck on a mirror. But it just doesn’t come off. The camera slowly zooms out to reveal a jar of Fevicol in the reflection. A fun 10 second ad, brilliantly executed.
Brand – Mumbai Police and Mumbai Traffic Police
Agency – Schbang
This advertisement for Mumbai Police and Mumbai Traffic Police features Raavan in all his might, explaining to a man on a scooter why wearing a helmet is important. Raavan has ten heads but you have only one, so wear a helmet! A light-hearted yet impactful PSA created to highlight the importance of Road Safety and wearing a helmet. Who would’ve have thought that someone as notorious as Raavan would tell you to follow the rules.
Brand – Pampers India
Agency – Leo Burnett
Ninety-two percent of fathers regret not spending enough time with their children. The brand uses this number to tell the story of an ailing father and his son who is about to become a father too. In his hospital bed the father shares with his son his deepest regret – not spending enough time with him. He sends him off with the advice to never miss a moment or milestone in his child’s life. As the son dutifully takes on the role of a doting and hands-on father, the ad film also highlights one important message: Parenting is not just a woman’s job. A deserving ad this one.
Brand – Cleartrip
Agency – Talented
Have you seen our print ad today? We hijacked the festive season & turned every sale into a #Cleartrip ad. The QR code on the ad takes you to a webpage where you can scan any product #ad in the newspaper to unlock insane travel offers on #Cleartrip for the price of that product. pic.twitter.com/s5wEo8r5kY
— Cleartrip (@Cleartrip) September 23, 2022
In an age when newspapers and print advertisements no longer have the same impact or influence as they used to, ClearTrip’s interactive ad in a leading newspaper gives print a disruptive edge, blending the old and the contemporary seamlessly to provide readers with a unique and fascinating experience. They released their own print ad which had a small QR code attached to it. ClearTrip created a micro-site which opened once the QR code was scanned. With the help of this micro-site, you could scan any advertisement in the newspaper that offered what would seem like a steal-deal. Upon scanning the ads, you would be redirected to ClearTrip’s website where an airline ticket or the price of a hotel stay would be shown at the same or similar bargain rate. A fabulous idea, brilliantly executed by the agency, proving that even traditional media has scope to be disruptive and interactive and can be equally fun, if used innovatively.
Brand – Kurkure
Agency – Wunderman Thompson
Role reversal is quite common in advertising. But, Kurkure has really upped the ante with this commercial. The storyline is fairly simple but really positively unexpected. You don’t typically expect foreigners to start speaking in Hindi, especially if you’re conversing with them in English. Moreover, for a non-Indian to say “Chal Jhooti,” an iconic line we Indians recognise all too well was a nice sentimental but comical addition to the script. Not to forget Sheeba Chaddha, a fabulous casting choice. Her expressions really stole the show. If the smart, concise and fun storyline isn’t already enough to award this spot a Super Mast, we urge Kurkure to release a spin-off ad series on the male house-help who appeared at the end. Though he had just one line, it was enough for us to gauge how hilarious his personality would be. We want an encore!